Campbell and CSU Split Doubleheader Friday

Apr 14

Campbell 2, Charleston Southern 1Charleston Southern 1, Campbell 0

Jennifer Giles struck out two over two shutout innings of relief, and Charleston Southern pushed across a sixth inning run to salvage a doubleheader split with a 1-0 win over Campbell at Buccaneer Field on Friday afternoon.

CSU (24-19, 9-5) got 7.0 more excellent innings from Morgan Dowdy (14-10) in the front end of the twin bill, but could not muster enough enough offense in a 2-1 loss.

Game OneDowdy and Olivia Scarborough (5-3) of Campbell (21-23, 6-5) hooked up in a dandy of a pitcher's duel in the opener, with CSU drawing first blood in the bottom of the second.

Hannah Wagner was hit by a pitch to start the rally, and then moved to third as the Bucs loaded the bases courtesy of a single form Melissa Adams, and a Kristin Kelleher walk. Jessica Brock then accounted for CSU's lone run of the contest when she was hit by a pitch to send Wagner down the line from third to touch the plate.

The Bucs maintained that advantage into the 4th, and appeared as if they would keep it through the end of the frame when Jana Matthews made an outstanding diving catch for the second out. The Fighting Camels had other ideas, though, forging a two-out charge to assume a 2-1 lead.

Taylor McGee grounded a sharp single to Brock at second base and beat the throw to first, which allowed Sarah Forgacs to score from second. McGee scurried up to second on a wild throw, and then made the trek on to the plate a batter later when Kailey Farmer ripped a RBI double down the left field line.

Dowdy recovered from there to finish her day having yielded only the two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks, while punching out five. Kelleher made it a two-hit day with a leadoff single to start the home half of the seventh for CSU, and the Bucs eventually put runners on first and second with only one out. Scarborough persevered, however, to retire Matthews and Stephanie Sbardella to lock up the win.

Kelleher once again paced CSU offensively, going 2-for-2 and drawing a pair of walks to raise an on-base percentage which ranked 2nd in the Big South as of Monday.

Game TwoLinzy Rother made her first appearance in the circle in over a month, and went toe-to-toe with Campbell's Julia Callicutt (5-6) in another pitcher's duel.

Campbell appeared poised to surge in front when it loaded the bases with nobody out in the third, but Rother found her way out of the jam to remain unscathed. The junior right-hander got a foul out from Forgacs, struck out Stephanie Jones, and induced a pop up from Raven Lee to keep the tally square at 0-0.

CSU was finally able to break the scoreless tie with an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. Jessica Brock scalded a leadoff single to center field to give the Bucs an opportunity to push across a run, which they eventually did with two outs when Campbell shortstop Ericka Nesbitt airmailed a throw to first base.

Rother had already left after 5.0 sterling innings by that point, as she shut out the Fighting Camels while scattering only four hits and striking out five. Giles (7-8) was superb in relief for the second time this week, following up off her first career save Tuesday with her seventh victory of the year.

Giles gave up a single to Jones to start the sixth, but retired the next six batters she faced, breezing through a 1-2-3 top of the 7th with a strikeout and two fly outs.

CSU and Campbell conclude this three-game set with a single contest Saturday at 2:00pm.